Braiding machine stop motion



w. RAMSDEN 2,185,225

BRAIDING MACHINE STOP MOTION L'gi INVENTOR V M 7 Jam 2, W4@,

W. RAMSDEN V BRAIDING MACHINE STOP MOTION Filed May 28, 1938 2 SheetsSheet 2 Patented Jan. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRAIDING MACHINE STOP MOTION Application May 28, 1938, Serial No. 210,557

12 Claims.

The present invention relates to braiding machines and more particularly to stop motions therefor.

Braiding machines comprise devices for feeding 6 two sets of yarns, namely, a set of stationary or cord yarns and a set of carrier or wrapping yarns, which latter may be conveniently designated as traveling yarns. Stop motions which act to stop the machine upon breakage, exhaustion or other 110 failure of any of the traveling yarns are wellknown in the art, but the provision of stop devices to act upon failure of the stationary yarns is a matter of some difiiculty, particularly since the proper tension must be maintained.

w The principal object of the present invention is to provide a stop motion operable upon breakage, exhaustion or, in fact, any failure of any of the yarns of the machine, and without interfering with proper and normal operation of the machine.

20 With this object in view, the principal feature of the invention comprises stop motion devices directly associated with one set of yarns only, together with means controlled by failure of any yarn to operate the stop motion. In the simplest 25 and best form of the invention yet devised the stop motion comprises a set of devices of any suitable form associated with the traveling yarns, together with means operated by failure of the stationary yarn to sever a traveling yarn and 3m thereby to operate the stop motion to stop the machine. Thus the stop motion is operated directly by failure of a traveling yarn and indirectly by failure of a stationary yarn.

A further feature of the invention comprises 35 the use of a swinging cutter mounted at the top of the stationary feeding devices and normally maintained in inoperative position by the tension of the stationary yarns, but adapted upon release of tension to swing into a position to sever one 40 of the traveling yarns. By this construction the normal tension is properly maintained and the machine operates in normal manner so long as the yarns continue to feed, but the apparatus stands in readiness for immediate response to 45 yarn failure.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of so much of a braiding machine as is necessary for a description of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the machine shown in 50 Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the tensioning and stop device for a traveling yarn carrier; Fig. 4 is an elevation on an enlarged scale of a stop device according to the present invention applied to one of the stationary yarn centers; Fig. 5 is a 55 front view of the devices sho n n Fig. 4; Fig. 6

is a plan view of the devices shown in Fig. 4; Figs.

7 and 8 are side and front elevations respectively of a modified form of the invention; Fig. 9 is a section on line 9-9 of the Fig. 8; and Fig. 10 is an elevation of a stationary yarn-feeding post 5 with the devices of the present invention applied to the upper end thereof.

The machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises the usual table I2 having a series of stationary yarn-feeding centers l4, on some or all of which 10 are mounted the stationary yarn-feeding posts IS. The so-called stationary yarns l8 are fed from suitable supplies up through the table and then from the upper ends of the posts l6 to the gatherer 20. The traveling carriers 22 move in the usual serpentine tracks24 whereby the traveling yarns 26 are fed to the gatherer with the proper braiding motion relative to the stationary yarns.

The machine is driven in the well-known manner bya pulley 28 through a clutch 30 which is urged toward open position by a spring 32. A lever 34 having a handle 36 is provided to move the clutch to its engaged position. The lever 34 is normally mounted in the position of Fig. 1 by means of a pivoted detent lever 38, the inner 26 edge of which may be depressed by pin 40. The upper end of the pin 40 is adapted to be engaged by a cam surface 42 of a laterally movable stop motion clutch release lever 44, which s normally held in the position of Fig. 1 by a spring 45 attached to the detent lever 38.

Associated with each traveling yarn carrier 22 is a post 46 on which is mounted a sliding tensioning weight 41 supported in varying positions on the post 46 by the traveling yarn 26, which is 85 drawn from spool 48 through an eye 49 in the post, thence through an eye 50 in the weight 41 and upwardly to yarn guide 5| formed on top of the post. If the traveling yarn breaks or becomes exhausted the weight "falls to its lowermost position, and when the carrier, in its normal cycle of movement, arrives at a position adjacent to the lever 44, the weight 41 strikes the lever, thus depressing the pin 40 to swing the lever 38 and thereby to release the clutch and stop the machine. After repair or replenishment of the yarn the clutch is restored to operating condition by the handle 36, whereupon the machine resumes operation.

The parts thus far described are well known. In the usual type of machine, therefore, the stop motion is able to respond only to failure of the traveling yarns.

According to the present invention, as illustrated particularly in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, each of the stationary feeding posts I 6 is provided with a cap member 52 having a stem 53 passing downwardly through the conical hole 54 through which the yarn I8 is fed. The bottom of the cap 52 is provided with a leather washer 55 whereby the yarn is tensioned by being forced to pass between the washer 55 and the top of the post Hi. The tension is applied by a spring 56 attached to the lower end of the stem 53, and asindicated in Fig. 10 the tension may be adjusted by securing the lower end of the spring in any one of a. series of slots 58 in the posts.

The cap 52 is provided with a pin 60 on which is pivoted a bracket 62 carrying a guide and cutter plate 64, which is capable of swinging between the vertical or full-line position and the horizontal or dot-and-dash line position of Fig. 4. To permit this movement the cap is provided with a slot 63 which extends in a direction radially of the machine. The plate 64 is provided at the end with a yarn eye 66 through which the yarn leads, and back of the eye is provided with a pair of cutter blades 68, one on each side of the center plate. As shown in Fig. 5, each blade 68 is included between the center plate 64 and an external tongue I0. A torsion spring 12 surrounding the pin 60 acts on the bracket in a direction to move the plate 64 to its vertical position. In normal operation the tension on the yarn is sufficient to hold the plate in a nearly horizontal position, approximately as indicated by the dotand-dash lines of Fig. 4, and out of the path of the traveling yarns.

In addition to the movement through the radial slot 63, the plate 64, when raised to its vertical position as indicated in Fig. 5, is capable of swinging to the right or the left. To this end the cap is provided with a slot 14 perpendicular to the slot 63, and the lower end of the plate is pivoted on the bracket 62 by a pin 16.

When one of the stationary yarns breaks or becomes exhausted, the plate 64 is no longer held in the dot-and-dash line position of Fig. 4 but swings upwardly to its radial position through the vertical slot 63. Shortly thereafter one of the traveling carriers will pass outside the stationary post l6 and the corresponding traveling yarn will strike the upstanding plate 64, as indicated in Fig. 10. The traveling yarn strikes the plate 64 with suflicient force to overcome the frictional resistance of the pivot 16, and to swing the plate through the slot 14 in one direction or the other, determined by the motion of the traveling yarn. The yarn is caught under one of the tongues 10 and severed by the knife blade. This severance of the traveling yarn causes the corresponding tensioning weight to drop into such a position that it can actuate the clutch release lever 44 at a later point in the cycle. The stop motion will, therefore, operate before the machine completes a full cycle following failure of the yarn. It will be noted that after severance of a traveling yarn, the plate continues to fall, so that the knife blades are out of the path of succeeding traveling yarns. Severance of a single yarn is therefore sufiicient to stop the machine.

The modification shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 is similar to that previously described, except that it utilizes the tensioning arrangement commonly employed on machines and may therefore be more readily adapted to existing machines. The feeding post [Band the conical feeding hole 54 in the upper part thereof, are as shown in Fig. 4. The tension on the yarn is provided by a conical plug 11 having a stem I8 extending do nwardly slots in the cap in the manner previously dey scribed.

It will be understood that although a particular form of stop motion is shown and described, the

invention is not limited to this precise construc- .tion but may be embodied in a machine in which a different type of stop motion is made to operate upon failure of any of the traveling yarns. In other respects, also, the invention is not limited to the particular embodiment shown and described, but may be varied within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding two sets of yarns, namely, a stationary set and a traveling set, a stop motion having devices directly controlled by yarns of one set only to actuate the stop motion, and means controlled by failure of a yarn of the other set to initiate operation of the stop motion.

2. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding two sets of yarns, namely, a stationary set and a traveling set, a stop motion having devices controlled directly by yarns of one set only, and means controlled by failure of a yarn of the other set to sever a yarn of said first set and thereby to operate the stop motion.

3. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding stationary and traveling yarns, a stop motion having devices controlled by the traveling yarns, and means controlled by failure of a stationary yarn to operate the stop motion.

4. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding stationary and traveling yarns, a stop motion having devices controlled directly by the traveling yarns, and means controlled by failure of a stationary yarn to sever a traveling yarn and thereby to operate the stop motion.

5. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding stationary and traveling yarns, a stop motion having devices controlled directly by the traveling yarns, a member for each stationary yarn normally maintained by the yarn tension out of the path of the traveling yarns and adapted to move into the path of a traveling yarn upon failure of a stationary yarn, and a cutter for severing the traveling yarn.

6. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding stationary and traveling yarns, a stop motion having devices controlled directly by the traveling yarns, a pivoted member normally maintained by the stationary yarn out of the path of the traveling yarns, and a cutter for severing a traveling yarn following failure of a stationary yarn.

7. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding stationary and traveling yarns, a stop motion having devices controlled directly by the traveling yarns, a pivoted member normally maintained by the stationary yarn out of the path of the traveling yarns, a cutter for severing a traveling yarn following failure of a stationary yarn, and means for mounting the cutter to move out of the path of the traveling yarns after severance of one of the traveling yarns.

8. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding stationary and traveling yarns, a stop motion having devices controlled directly by the traveling yarns, a feeding post for each stationary yarn and tensioning means therefor, a member normally maintained by the tension of the stationary yarn out of the path of the traveling yarns, means to move the member into the path of the traveling yarns upon the relief of the tension, and a cutter on the member to sever a traveling yarn engaged thereby.

9. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding stationary and traveling yarns, a stop motion having devices controlled directly by the traveling yarns, a feeding post for each stationary yarn and tensioning means therefor, a member normally maintained by the tension of the stationary yarn out of the path of the traveling yarns, means to move the member into the path of the traveling yarns upon the relief of the tension, a cutter on the member to sever a traveling yarn engaged thereby, and means for mounting the member to swing out of the path of the succeeding traveling yarns following severance of a traveling yarn.

10. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding stationary and traveling yarns, a stop motion having devices controlled directly by the traveling yarns, a feeding post for each stationary yarn, a guide member normally held in a depressed position by tension of the stationary yarn, means for mounting the guide member to permit it to swing upwardly into the path of the traveling yarns when the stationary yarn tension is relieved and means for further pivoting the guide member to cause it to swing upon engagement by a traveling yarn, and a cutter engaged by the traveling yarn to sever the latter and thereby to operate the stop motion.

11. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding stationary and traveling yarns and a gatherer for said yarns, a stop motion having devices controlled directly by the traveling yarns, a feeding post for each of the stationary yarns and tensioning means therefor, and devices contacting said stationary yarns between said feeding posts and the gatherer controlled by failure of a stationary-yarn to initiate operation of the stop motion.

12. In a braiding machine having devices for feeding stationary and traveling yarns and a gatherer for said yarns, a stop motion, and devices controlled by the traveling yarns for actuating said stop motion, a feedingpost for each stationary yarn, and devices controlled by those portions 01 the stationary yarns extending between the feeding posts and the gatherer to be rendered operative by failure of a stationary yarn to initiate operation of the stop motion.

WALTER RAMSDEN. 

